January 22, 2016

Eichler Window Replacement (+ Dan's Glass and Mistlite)

Every Eichler owner's nightmare is having one of the large glass panes break. There are also a lot of misconceptions involved in what it might take to replace one — from the forfeiture of a kidney to having to separate the large pane into several smaller panels... or worse: vinyl.

A broken window is likely every Eichler owner's nightmare...

Our neighbors Laura and Chris had a window break and they went searching for a replacement solution. They were also a bit anxious as to what they'd find. They were the first of our generation in the neighborhood to replace a glass panel as far we we could tell — and it was a daunting task. Calling around, they found Dan's Glass here in Concord who said: "No problem — we've done those in the past".

Dan's crew came out to investigate and confirmed that the glass cracked simply due to settling and pressure — and that a replacement (roughly 8X10 and angled at the top) in tempered would certainly be possible. In fact, for a nominal upcharge ("higher, but not double the cost" per Chris' recollection), a double-pane unit would even be possible.

Yesterday, the installation crew stopped by to remove not only the broken pane, but two adjacent panes to replace with tempered, single-pane glass. They removed the glass, cleaned up the area, replaced necessary wood, blocked the new glass with rubber blocking, installed the glass and back-filled with silicone for a tight fit. They then sealed it back up with blocking similar to the original and finish caulked the surround. It's not much to look at and that's the point... it's nearly indistinguishable from the original except now it's tempered (and in Chris and Laura's case did not have odd 80s gold reflective window film).

Due to the shifting nature of material costs, I'll not pin a price to Dan here in the blog post, but from a comparison standpoint, we paid almost as much to have the windows filmed. Had we known that replacement at such a reasonable cost would have been possible, we might very well have gone that route. If you are curious about your project, give Dan's Glass a call at: 925-827-4173

Chris, the installation lead, gives the job a thumbs-up.

Laura, the homeowner, looks on with a mixture of amazement and trepidation as the panel is installed.

The final really isn't much to look at... which is kind of the point, right?

Dan's Glass + Mistlite

Today, I stopped by Dan's Glass to get an OK to publish this post and photos. Not only did I get an OK, but a great vibe from the shop... they're an amazingly nice crew with a very cool space. Even more to our liking, they have access to out original Mistlite pattern (up to 96in) and can get it tempered.

So, if you're a San Francisco Bay Area Eichler owner in search of Glass replacement — or Mistlite replacement, give Dan's Glass a call... or stop by for a game of pinball.